02. 08. 2014

Parliament passes media bills

Belgrade, 2.8.2014 (Tanjug) - The Serbian parliament passed three media bills - the bills on public information, electronic media and public media services.

The set of media bills, adopted after 11 years, is to ensure the provision of timely, truthful, full and unbiased information, and will also see the state withdraw from ownership in media companies by mid-2015.

The Law on Public Information and Media Passed

Serbian MPs passed the Law on Public Information and Media with 182 votes in favor of it. The Law envisages that the procedure of media privatization be completed by 1st July 2015.

The Law creates the conditions for free development of independent, professional media and media system which is to enable meeting of broad needs of citizens for information and content from all areas of social life, without discrimination.

The Law also regulates the withdrawal of the state from media ownership, except in special cases, and clearly defines public interest in the area of public information.

The Law regulates the position of editors, protection of journalists' rights and incitement of journalistic association, transparency of ownership in the media, establishment of the Media Registry and the protection of media pluralism through prevention of illicit mergers in the area of public information.

The Law envisages the shift from direct budgetary financing of some media to the system of project and competition-based co-financing for all the media, i.e. media publishers listed in the Media Registry, legal entities, i.e. enterpreneurs registered for the production of media content, and other legal entities, i.e. enterpreneurs.

Project-based co-financing is open also to independent productions, citizens' associations and other entities which are not founders of media.

In the budgets of the Republic, the autonomous province and units of local self-autonomy a part of funding is allocated to public information, which funding is to be distributed by calling of public calls for proposals and individual allocation, based on the principle of non-discrimination and the rules on the allocation of state aid and protection of competition.

The funding intended for individual allocation is limited to five percent of the total intended for the realization of public interest in the area of public information through public calls for proposals.

The amount of individual allocation cannot exceed 20 percent of the amount presribed for public procurement of small value.

Ministry in charge of public information affairs is to pass bylaws which more precisely define the means of, conditions and criteria for the allocation of funding through co-financing and it prescribes the contents of necessary forms.

According to the Law, the term 'public information service' is abandoned, and the term 'media' is adopted, defined as daily and periodical newspapers, news agency services, radio program and television program and electronic edition of these media, as well as independent electronic editions, defined as editorially shaped internet pages or internet portals registered in the Media Registry.

The media are not legal entities. The Law prescribes what the media is and is not - a book, a film, carrier of audio and audio-visual content, scientific and expert journal, internet search engines and aggregators - which prevents possibility of different interpretations in practice.

Media publisher can be any person or legal entity registered for performing the activity with the responsible republic authority, and the media can be founded by any domestic or foreign legal entity or individual, in accordance with the law.

The change of publisher is listed in the Media Registry.

The Law on Electronic Media Passed

Serbian Parliament MPs passed with a majority vote the Law on Electronic Media which precisely defines competencies of Serbia over providers of audiovisual media services due to digital switchover.

All EU members must switch from analogue to digital broadcasting by 2015, and in that area the program providers are viewed as providers of audio-visual media services and not as broadcasters.

The Law harmonizes terminology with the Directive on Audio-Visual Media Services and specifies definition of terms in accordance with it in the area of normative regulation of operation, competencies and activities of the regulatory body in the area of electronic media, taking into account the change of circumstances which will take place with the digital switchover.

The Law also defines guaranteeing of freedom of reception and re-broadcasting media services, due to defining and specifying types of audio-visual media services in accordance with the EU Directive.

Audio-visual policy is one of important policies of the European Union, and in March 2010 the EU established a new regulatory framework in relation to the provision of audio-visual media services by the Directive of the European Parliament and Council on the provision of audio-visual media services.

As Serbia received the candidate status for membership in the EU, in the accession process the Directive imposed the need to harmonize existing legislation with the standards established in it.

The Law on Public Service Broadcasters Passed

The new Law on Public Service Broadcasters, which the Parliament passed with 183 votes in favor of it, regulates the operation of public service broadcasters Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV), defines the obligation of their work on the premises of truthful, unbiased, complete and timely information, ban of censorship, respect of human rights and budgetary financing by 2016.

According to the Law, as of 2016 they will be financed from the tax for public service broadcasters, from the budget, from commercial income...

Also, the Law underscores the respect of professional standards and codices in the fulfillment of public interest which entails the production, acquisition, processing and publishing of radio, television and multimedia content, particularly of informative, educational and cultural-artistic nature, as well as content for children, entertainment, sports, religious content and other content of public interest for the citizens.

The Law emphasizes that public service broadcasters fulfill public interest, respect the public demand and are accountable to the public for their work, and that the responsibility of public service broadcasters is fulfilled by a public procedure of appointing their bodies...

Media content of RTS and RTV is aimed at fulfillment of human rights and freedoms, exchange of ideas and opinions, cherishing values of a democratic society, furthering of political, gender, intranational and religious tolerance and understanding, as well as preservation of national identity of the Serbian people and national minorities.

The listed obligations of public service broadcasters include the respect and incitement of pluralism, political, religious and other ideas and enabling the public to be familiarized with these ideas, while not serving the interests of individual political parties and religious communities, or any other particular political, economic or religious interest.

Also, the new legal solutions precisely define the preservation and expression of the cultural identity of Serbian people and national minorities, and it is obligatory to provide the national minorities with the opportunity to follow certain programmatic units in their mother tongue and alphabet.

As for the financing of public service broadcasters, tax is to be introduced as of 2016, which will be the same on the whole territory of Serbia and it cannot exceed 500 dinars.

The decision on the amount of the tax is jointly passed by the managing boards of RTS and RTV, based on the analysis of net expenditures of performing core activities, by 30 June 2015 at the latest. In the following years the amount of the tax will be harmonized with the increase of the index of consumer prices for the month of September in the year of harmonization.